Building a Great Student Chapter: Reflections on Workshop Activities Using Entrepreneurial Mindset

Abstract Growing as a student, professor, or engineer commonly involves being part of larger organizations. Many professional engineering organizations, e.g., IEEE, ASME, AIChE, ASCE, NSBE, SHPE, etc., offer opportunities to engage and lead during undergraduate study as well as throughout a person's career. In this contribution, I summarize and examine several iterations of a goal-setting and leadership-development workshop focused on student chapters. The overarching objective of the workshop is to lead participants through exercises to help build great student chapters. Specifically, AIChE students at a regional conference, STEM students and advisors on the author's home campus, and student chapter advisors at the AIChE Annual Conference participated in different activities centered upon the entrepreneurial mindset framework. This entrepreneurial mindset framework is summarized by the 3C's, namely Curiosity, Connections, and Creating value. By applying an entrepreneurial mindset, participants identify characteristics desired in their student chapter, officers, and members. Additional workshop prompts explore actions of student members and leaders and help participants develop an action plan for the coming semester and year. The logistics and delivery of the workshop are detailed in this contribution. In addition, surveying participants at both the beginning and end of the workshops found high engagement, i.e., significant evidence of brainstorming and goal setting.